Municipal Services Committee Meeting 02/07/2022 – Will Vote On Second Bird E-Scooter Pilot Program, Receive Report On Enhanced Crosswalk Program

The Municipal Services Committee is meeting 02/07/2022 at 4:30PM.

I suspect that the item of most interest to the public will be the request to approve a second Bird e-scooter pilot program for 2022. Per the memo to the committee the 2021 Bird pilot program was a “huge success” but there were concerns raised by the community that they want to try to address through as second pilot program. The major changes to the agreement with Bird are:

1. Reducing the maximum speed in the College Avenue corridor from 15 MPH to 12 MPH.
2. Geo-fencing of downtown bridges to prevent customers from ending their ride on a bridge.
3. Creating preferred parking zones where customers receive a discounted price if they end their ride at those locations.
4. The city will receive $.10 per ride to recoup administrative, education, and enforcement expenses incurred during the pilot program.
5. Limit the total number of scooters to 350 with an initial deployment of no more than 100 scooters in the downtown area, 50 north of Wisconsin avenue, and 50 south of Calumet Street.
6. Deploy scooters in groups of no more than 10 in any given location.

The committee will also be voting on a request from Hilton Hotel to install of 12’ x 4’7” blade sign on their building on College Avenue. Because it extends out from their building it is technically in the street’s right-of-way.

Matt Miller of McGuiness Irish Pub has submitted a request to bag the 9 parking meters on the street outside of his building in order to provide drive-thru service during their St. Patrick’s Day celebration on March 17, as was done last year. During last year’s discussion about this, it was explained that the city would not typically approve bagging meters for convenience so, at the time, his request had been administratively denied. After he appealed the denial to the committee, the committee approved his request, determining that it was reasonable in light of the Covid-19 pandemic and the logistics needed facility the ability for people to maintain a safe distance from each other. [I’ll be interested to see if this request comes up again next year.]

Finally, the committee will vote on a request to award a $100,000 bridge deck sealing contract to Radtke Contractors Inc.

There will also be a number of information items including info on the Department of Public Works operational changes, an update on the Pedestrian Crosswalk Safety Enhancement Program, and the Inspections Division Summary Comparison Report for January. And, of course, I’m sure everyone is excited to view the video “Abby Learns About Leaf Collection”.

The update on the Pedestrian Crosswalk Safety Enhancement Program may be of interest and was possibly included in the agenda as a result of Resolution #2-R-22 which calls for the reallocation of $225,000 from the city brand study funding to the Enhanced Crosswalk Program.

View full meeting details here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=922395&GUID=3FA36DA5-7610-4573-8B63-EE3B043367A2